The Simpsons began airing in 1989, and it is by far the longest-running sitcom on American television. Throughout these 31 years, the whole world has learned to love this peculiar family. But sometimes the show has surprised us by predicting with great precision a multitude of situations and technological advances.
How do they do it? Well, there is a part of reasoning, a bit of luck and even some of these Simpsons advances, as in Science Fiction, have served as inspiration for inventors. Then, let’s review these 10 technological inventions predicted by the Simpsons.
Farmville game
The episode “Bart the trader” in season 8 shows us a virtual farm, where the characters dedicate hours and hours to their care. The Zynga company launched Farmville a decade later.
GoPro cameras
The concept appears in the episode “Homer and Apu” of 1994, where a camera is hidden in a hat and also in “Marge against the Monorail” shows something similar. With the same concept, the GoPro appeared 20 years later.
Autocorrect
Rather than a prediction, in this case the Simpsons actively contributed to events. In the episode “Lisa on ice” of 1994 (Season 6, Episode 8), the bullies Dolph and Kearney write down in an electronic diary (with the Apple logo) “Beat up, Martin.”, but the autocorrect interprets it as “Eat Up, Martha.” Apple developed the autocorrect for Iphone years later, well aware of this failure thanks to that episode.
Virtual reality glasses
In the episode “Lisa’s wedding” of 1995 (Season 6, Episode 19) virtual reality glasses appear several times, when Bart plays pool with them, for example. Today, the Oculus Rift and other RV glasses are in fashion.
Videochatting
Already in 1995, again in “Lisa’s wedding”, she and Marge speak on a telephone connected to the TV. Since 2010, it is a common practice to use Skype, Google Hangout or FaceTime for Videochatting.
Sarcasm detector
Professor Frink’s invention in 1999 is a reality now, thanks to two researchers from the University of Berkeley. Although the algorithm can only detect sarcasm in written texts, the concept is the same.
Smartwatches
Also in “Lisa’s wedding”, her fiancé makes a call using his watch. Many years later in 2013, the prophecy was fulfilled with smart watches with voice recognition such as the Samsung Galaxy Gear.
3D-Printed cake
In the episode “Future-Drama”, Marge takes a picture of Bart and Lisa on the night of their prom. Then, that seemingly normal Polaroid picture grows and it is transformed into a cake. Nine years later, food made with 3D printers came true.
Guitar hero
Three years before the game’s release, in episode 2 of Season 14, Homer is given a jacket that says “Guitar Hero” on his back.
Google takes over the world
In the episode “Holidays of Future Passed”, Lisa admits that although Google has taken over the world it is a very good search engine. That has not happened yet, but considering that it is in almost every aspect of our life…
